Search This Blog

Choosing to Use 企硬剔嘢

Among the constellation of urban vice in Hong Kong – prostitution, illegal gambling and organized crime – drug abuse is perhaps the most widespread and fastest growing. It is a guilty pleasure that transcends socioeconomic class and ethnic backgrounds, fuelled by the influx of cheap drugs from Mainland China and other emerging markets in Asia. And the upcoming murder trial of Rurik Jutting, a Cambridge-educated Hong Kong-based investment banker known for his “regular weekend drug binges”, is expected to thrust the well-known but little mentioned subject of illegal drug use, especially among high-rolling banking professionals, back into newspaper headlines and public discourse.

To take or not to take

The Jutting story has prompted me to send out a few text messages scouting for people in the know for a dose of inside scoop. It didn’t take me long to zero in on JD*, a self-proclaimed drug enthusiast who happens to be a derivatives trader for a bulge-bracket investment bank. The 26-year-old Chinese Canadian moved to Hong Kong from Toronto two years ago. He and his girlfriend Claire* share an apartment on Wanchai’s Star Street, one of the city’s upscale expat enclaves. The couple, together with their like-minded friends, use drugs recreationally and regularly.

Like other young bankers, JD is smart and assertive. And like other derivatives traders, he is accustomed to taking calculated risks for himself and his clients. JD applies his professional skills to his pharmacological pursuits, and manages his exposure by doing extensive research on the garden variety of drugs available in Hong Kong. Out of everything he and Claire have sampled over the years, MDMA and cocaine are their substances of choice. MDMA, which stands for 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, is a psychoactive drug made from safrole oil. In tablet form, it is commonly known as “ecstasy” or its street name “E.” But JD is a purist and prefers to ingest MDMA in its crystalline form.

“MDMA is a great party drug because it enhances my perception of colors and sounds,” JD enthused. “It also makes me feel empathetic toward my friends. I take it twice a month when I go clubbing.”

MDMA in an ingestible crystalline form

“Coke does something entirely different,” he continued, “It gives you a confidence boost and a sense of accomplishment – the same feeling you get after closing a multimillion-dollar deal. Unlike MDMA, there is no hangover the following day. I can do a few lines on a Sunday night and go to work Monday morning.”

“How about heroin and methamphetamine?” I asked. “They’re very popular among Hong Kong Chinese.” Meth is also called “ice” in the local vernacular.

JD cringed when he heard those words. “We call heroin and ice ‘trashy drugs.’ They’re highly addictive and shooting up heroin leaves needle holes on your arms. Low-income folks take them because they are cheap. Bankers, especially the expats, don’t really touch that stuff.”

Trashy drug

“Do you smoke pot too?” I asked, conscious of the fact that marijuana has recently been legalized in four U.S. states.

“Pot is cool,” he beamed. “Claire prefers using a glass bong. We smoke in the living room while watching television. Marijuana contains less tar than tobacco and so the smell doesn’t stick to the furniture.”

“How about ketamine or LSD?” I pressed, determined to cover all the bases.

“Not as much. Ketamine is called K-jai here. It makes you hallucinate and gives you an out of body sensation. When you move your arms, for instance, it feels like you’re moving somebody else’s body part. Claire and I took some before we went hiking on Lantau Island yesterday. As for LSD, it’s very difficult to get it in Hong Kong, and so we don’t do much of it. No supply, no demand.”

Ketamine gives users an out-of-body experience

Our conversation segued naturally into sources and pricing. My insider proceeded to walk me through where he gets his goods and how much he pays for them.

“Say, if I want some coke – which comes in one-eighth ounce packages – I’ll phone up one of my guys who will either come to my apartment or meet me in his car or a taxi. He’ll take my cash, hand me the stuff and drop me off a block away.”

“Who exactly are these guys of yours?”

“There’re a few dozen dealers in the city. They’re local men in their 30s – decent guys who want to make a few bucks. It’s all business: efficient and uneventful.”

I asked JD whether these men were connected with the triads – the local mafia.

“I suppose someone somewhere up the food chain is. But the guys I deal with are low level distributors. There’re no dragon tattoos or missing fingers. They wear polo shirts and khakis just like you and me.”.

Drugs and money can change hands anywhere in the city

“Alright, let's talk money. How much is a gram of coke these days?” I probed.

“I pay about HK$800 (US$103) for a gram, which will last me and Claire all night. It’s cheaper than buying booze, and that’s partly why cocaine is popular.”

“And the others?”

“Marijuana comes in dried flower buds. A pack costs roughly HK$600 and is good for eight joints. E, on the other hand, is overpriced in Hong Kong. It costs HK$300 a pill, compared to less than HK$100 in the U.S. But prices for E have started to come down since the mainland Chinese started making synthetic safrole oil.”

Dried flower buds

Once money and drugs change hands, it is all good. JD and his friends consume what they buy at home to avoid having to carry it or pass it around in public – except for coke, which he usually has a second helping in the club’s bathroom. It is called a “key bump” because the small amount is snorted from a household key.

“Have drugs become a big part of your life?” I asked, out of genuine concern.

“Not as much as it sounds,” JD defended. “It’s a hobby, not a habit. I’m aware of the dangers, not only the legal risks but also the health effects. The main worry is that your body may build up a tolerance over time, and that you have to take more and more to get the same high. That’s why Claire and I space out our uses. Drugs are just like alcohol or fatty food, you have to know your limits.”

JD is not just an enthusiast; he is also an advocate. “Drugs have been demonized because people fear what they don’t understand,” he argued. “They can be a useful tool if we learn to use them responsibly. Psychedelic substances allow you to explore your deeper emotions and confront your demons, whatever they are. They’ve helped Claire and me work through our relationship problems.”

JD has a point. In the U.S., clinical trials are being conducted to use MDMA, ketamine and magic mushrooms to treat depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

One potential application of MDMA

In recent months, JD has been ordering drugs in larger quantities and selling some of them to his friends for a profit. To do that, he has not only moved up the local supply chain but also started importing from overseas. He even has test kits at home to verify the chemical contents of his purchases. For his own protection, he would not disclose how he manages to evade Hong Kong Customs when shipping banned substances into the city.

But the stakes can be high. The maximum penalty for drug trafficking in Hong Kong is HK$5,000,000 in fines and life imprisonment. A disgruntled customer or a careless friend is all it takes to get JD into serious trouble. For now, he is taking it all in stride. He insisted that he knew what he was doing.

“I import in very small quantities,” JD stressed. “It makes sense because if I’m buying for myself anyway, I may as well order a bit more for my close friends. By the way, text me if you want some for yourself. I sell better stuff than the junk on the street.”

*Their real names have been concealed to protect their anonymity.

_____________________________

This article was published in the January/February 2015 issue of MANIFESTO magazine under Jason Y. Ng's column “The Urban Confessional.”

As published in MANIFESTO

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Popular Posts

“We are here to visit a friend,” I said to the guard at the entrance.
Tiffany, Joshua Wong Chi-fung’s long-time girlfriend, trailed behind me. It was our first time visiting Joshua at Pik Uk Correctional Institution and neither of us quite knew what to expect.

“Has your friend been convicted?” asked the guard. We nodded in unison. There are different visiting hours and rules for suspects and convicts. Each month, convicts may receive up to two half-hour visits from friends and family, plus two additional visits from immediate family upon request.
The guard pointed to the left and told us to register at the reception office. “I saw your taxi pass by earlier,” he said while eyeing a pair of camera-wielding paparazzi on the prowl. “Next time you can tell the driver to pull up here to spare you the walk.”
At the reception counter, Officer Wong took our identity cards and checked them against the “List.” Each inmate is allowed to grant visitation rights to no more than 10 friends and fam…

Jason is the bestselling author of Umbrellas in Bloom (2016), No City for Slow Men (2013) and HONG KONG State of Mind (2010). Together, the three books form a Hong Kong trilogy that tracks the city's post-colonial development. His short stories have appeared in various anthologies. In 2017, Jason co-edited and contributed to Hong Kong 20/20, an anthology that marks the 20th anniversary of the handover. In July 2017, he was appointed Advising Editor for the Los Angeles Revie…

You have reached a midlife plateau. You have everything you thought you wanted: a happy family, a well-located apartment and a cushy management job. The only thing missing from that bourgeois utopia is a bit of oomph, a bit of recognition that you have played by the rules and done all right. A Porsche 911? Too clichéd. A rose gold Rolex? Got that last Christmas. An extramarital affair that ends in a costly divorce or a boiled bunny? No thanks. How about a membership at one of the city’s country clubs where accomplished individuals like yourself hang out in plaid pants and flat caps? Sounds great, but you’d better get in line.

Clubs are an age-old concept that traces back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The introduction of coffee beans to England in the mid-17th Century spurred the proliferation of coffeehouses for like-minded gentlemen to trade gossip about the monarchy over a hot beverage. In the centuries since, these semi-secret hideouts evolved into main street establishments t…

This month marks the third birthday of my blog As I See It, a social commentary on the trials and tribulations of living in Hong Kong. The occasion coincides with the 100th article I have written under the banner. Having reached a personal milestone, I decided to take the opportunity to reflect on my still-young writing career and wallow in, dare we say, self-congratulatory indulgence.

It all started in November 2008 on the heels of the last U.S. presidential election. I was getting ready to create a personal website as a platform to consolidate my interests and pursuits. To do that I needed content. That’s how my blog – or my “online op-ed column” as I prefer to call it – came into being.
Before I knew it, I was banging it out in front of my iMac every night, going on and off the tangent and in and out of my stream of consciousness about the odd things I experienced in the city, the endless parade of pink elephants I saw everyday that no one seemed to bat an eyelid at. Though singi…

When I shook his hand for the first time, I thought he was the strangest seventeen-year-old I’d ever met.
It was 2014, and considering how much Hong Kong has changed in the last three year, it felt like a lifetime ago.
Joshua sat across from me at a table in the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, with his iPhone in one hand and an iPad in the other. I ordered him a lemon iced tea with extra syrup.
He was eager to begin our conversation, not because he was excited about being interviewed for my article, but because he wanted to get it over with and get on with the rest of his jam-packed day.
During our 45-minute chat, he spoke in rapid-fire Cantonese, blinking every few seconds in the way robots are programmed to blink like humans. He was quick, precise and focused.

He was also curt.
When I asked him if he had a Twitter account, he snapped, “Nobody uses Twitter in Hong Kong. Next question.”
I wasn’t the least offended by his bluntness—I chalked it up to gumption and precocity. For a te…

The school year had barely begun when two incidents—both testing the limits of free speech on campus—unfolded at Chinese University and Education University and sent management scrambling for a response.
On Monday, at least three large banners bearing the words “Hong Kong independence” were spotted in various locations at Chinese University, including one that draped across the famous “Beacon” sculpture outside the school’s main library. Within hours, the banners were removed by the school authorities.
A few days later, a sign “congratulating” Education Undersecretary Choi Yuk-lin (蔡若蓮) on her son’s recent suicide appeared on Education University’s Democracy Wall, a public bulletin board for students to express opinions and exchange views. Likewise, the sign was taken down shortly thereafter.

That could have been the end of the controversies had university management not succumbed to the temptation to say a few choice words of their own. In the end, it was the reaction from the schoo…

There are things about America that boggle the mind: gun violence, healthcare costs and Donald Trump. But once in a while – not often, just once in a while – the country gets something so right and displays such courage that it reminds the rest of the world what an amazing place it truly is. What happened three days ago at the nation’s capital is shaping up to be one of those instances.

Last Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a 5-to-4 decision on same-sex marriage, the most important gay rights ruling in the country’s history. In Obergefell v. Hodges, Justice Kennedy wrote, “It would misunderstand [gay and lesbian couples] to say that they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find fulfillment for themselves… They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
With those simple words, Justice Kennedy made marriage equality a constitutionally prote…

Every Chinese New Year I buy myself a tangerine tree for good luck. Ripe fruits fallen to the ground will mould and turn white and green within 36 hours.
Every Thanksgiving I roast a turkey big enough to feed twelve. Leftovers taste better the next day but will spoil by the week’s end even when kept in the fridge.

The unifying theme of these two unrelated household anecdotes is that unprocessed food does not last. Spoilage is part of nature’s metabolism. So how is it possible that the Valencia oranges on my kitchen counter look exactly the same as they did five weeks ago at the store, or that the expiration date stamped on a can of luncheon meat reads “March 2018”? I can’t help but wonder what really is in our food.
Our appetite for things that taste better, look nicer, last longer and cost less, from breakfast cereal to meat products and fresh produce, is insatiable. Consumer demand has spurred the growing use of pesticides, flavorings, colorings and preservatives in the food indu…

About Me

Born in Hong Kong, Jason is a globe-trotter who spent his entire adult life in Europe and various cities in the United States and Canada before settling back in his birthplace to rediscover his roots.
Jason is a news columnist, a bestselling author, a practicing lawyer and an adjunct law professor. He is the President of PEN Hong Kong and a member of the Progressive Lawyers Group.
Jason lives in Hong Kong and can be contacted at info@jasonyng.com. For more, visit www.jasonyng.com.

About this site

As I See It is a biweekly column that began in 2008 as a social commentary on Hong Kong's many contradictions and oddities. It also tackles the city's pressing social, political and existential issues. Jason's articles are reproduced in the online edition of the South China Morning Post and are frequently cited by overseas news media.

Umbrellas in Bloom

Umbrellas in Bloom, the first book published in English to chronicle the occupy movement of 2014 and the last instalment of Jason Y. Ng's Hong Kong trilogy, debuts No.1 on Amazon.com in the Hong Kong History category. It is all you need to know about the biggest political upheaval in post-handover Hong Kong: who took part in it, why it happened, how it transpired, and what it did and did not achieve.

No City for Slow Men

Published in 2013, No City for Slow Men examines some of the pressing social, cultural and existential issues facing Hong Kong. It is a treatise on local life that is thought-provoking, touching and immensely entertaining.

HK State of Mind

Published in 2010, HONG KONG State of Mind is a collection of essays that zeroes in on the city’s idiosyncrasies with deadpan precision. It promises something for everyone: a travel journal for the passing visitor, a user’s manual for the wide-eyed expat, and an open diary for the native Hong Konger looking for moments of reflection.